M. Shahidul Islam
The festering political crisis in Bangladesh has come to suck in external diplomatic interventions in the most potent manner due to its unexpected longevity, its transformative proclivity to turn into a fratricidal low intensity conflict, and, it’s potential to degenerate into something more ominous to pose grave danger to regional and global peace. Delhi too is ‘very concerned’ now about the deteriorating political situation in Bangladesh, according to media reports and diplomatic sources, as are the USA, EU, Australia, Canada and Japan.
The hit and run attacks on transports and public offices by whoever they may be, and the response of the government to shoot and kill opposition activists under the pretext of alleged gunfights are posing grave threats to peace and security of the nation of Bangladesh, as well as the region due to the crisis being capitalized by radical forces of various denominations with trans-border and global operational history and capability.
Comparing apples and oranges
The UN has been watching the deteriorating situation for quite a while and, had finally issued series of statement urging for an immediate dialogue between the government and the aggrieved opposition parties to resolve the crisis. The government, for its part, has so far preferred to resort to crisis management by using brutal force, indiscriminate incarcerations of dissents and branding the opposition with a make-believe political jargon as mere terrorists.
More so, parallels were drawn with the terrorists elsewhere, including the Islamic State (IS), al- Qaeda, et al, with whom talks are not deemed as justified. This sort of argument is fallacious preposterous and replete with danger. It borders on the fallacy of comparing apples and oranges.
The IS and the al Qaeda have never been registered political parties in any country, nor did they constitute an integral part of any democratic polity. They also never contested elections and went to power with people’s mandate. The opposition 20 party compact in Bangladesh is headed by the BNP which is an integral part of Bangladesh’s political landscape and has been in power four times in four decades, including the elected regime of President Ziaur Rahman (1978-81).
It was learnt from a diplomatic source, who insisted on unanimity, in the UN headquarters in New York City that the UN is preparing ground to raise the Bangladesh crisis into concerned UN forum should the crisis deteriorate further. Pursuant to the mandate given to the UN by Chapters V1,V11,V111 & X11 of the Charter, the Security Council is obligation-bound to act to defuse any crisis that has the potential to posing grave threat to global peace and security.
This is the reason why the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of the leading UN member nations have met with the Bangladesh foreign Minister first, and then visited BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on March 3 and urged the conflicting parties to resolve the crisis through dialogue.
Dubious locus standi
The invoking by the Australian High Commissioner, Greg Wilcock, following the group meeting with Khaleda Zia, of the UN’s call for a similar move links their efforts to those made by the UN prior to the January 5, 2014 election, and, in recent weeks.
For obvious reasons, the global communities concern for deteriorating Bangladesh situation has exacerbated lately. One of the major manifestations of such a perceptual- alarm-ringing is the instances of increased claim for refugee status in the developed nations in recent weeks by people from Bangladesh who say they were either persecuted by the law enforces and ruling party goons, or, face arrest, torture and death upon returning to the country due to their political affiliations and dissenting opinions.
What then are the options for the government, other than negotiation, at this critical juncture of the nation? Within the country, the post-January 2014 AL regime has no moral mooring to cling onto power indefinitely. Its dubious locus standi is what makes it more unacceptable and irritating to both domestic and international stake holders and to conscious citizens within and outside Bangladesh.
Look carefully the fabric by which the government is made of. Only reckonable ally the AL has in the parliament is the JP, which is, paradoxically, part of the regime as well as an opposition. It occupies opposition benches in the House but has its ministers in the ruling cabinet. This is too egregious and unprecedented in any democratic society.
Worst still, the JP’s loyalty has been robbed by forcibly taking its leader, HM Ershad, to the Combined Military Hospital in the wake of the nomination paper submission while his wife, Rowshan, was bribed to be the leader of the opposition by drawing her into a faked electoral Domestic isolation. The world is neither oblivious to such a melodrama, nor can it stay silent for too long when Bangladesh and its people burn and the isolationism of the regime becomes too obvious to bypass attention.
Govt.’s smear campaign
The UN and other international observers also have had enough reason to be angry by the manner the sincere efforts by Bangladesh’s civic society to organize a dialogue to defuse the crisis have been treated by the government.
Over the last two months, as the incessant blockade and intermittent strikes by the opposition forces and, the brutal responses by the AL-led regime through indiscriminate arrests, shooting and maiming of the opposition activists continued, it was only obvious that the civic society would step forward to clamour for calm and sanity.
As they did, the response was a smear campaign to portray them as power hungry wolves seeking to grab offices of interest through unconstitutional means while arrest (of Mahmudur Rahma Manna, for instance) and threat of arrest followed. The PM’s son, Sajib Wazed Joy, even called for the arrest of Dr. Kamal Hossain and the Daily Star editor, Mahfuz Anam; the former for vouching for a dialogue to resolve the crisis and the later for printing a poster of public interest found pasted in a city wall..
As of now, only some business leaders are being seen, characteristically, siding with the regime in order to get police protection for the transportation of their products on one hand and, the promised compensation from the government for the alleged damages, on the other. Above all, one of the business leaders, Annisul Hoque, has been assured of a nomination to become the next mayor of Dhaka north municipality zone.
Delhi alarmed under this dreadful ambiance, the media is no more the mirror of the society; the intelligentsias are constantly threatened, pin-pricked, subdued and cowed into the partisan ambit of the regime; the civic society has been driven to the oblivion while the security forces feel helpless and abandoned to obey orders that are mostly unlawful due to their disregard for the innate and constitutionally-guaranteed codes of fundamental human rights.
Modi’s message to Hasina
Media reports aside, it was learnt from reliable sources that Delhi is alarmed by such a debilitating spectacle unfolding in Bangladesh. There are reasons to be. After two-months-long fighting and mayhem, the regime of AL is isolated internally and externally. Radicalism, extremism and fanaticism are on the rise, as was evident from the recent murder of blogger Ovijit Roy.
As well, the BNP-led opposition is fighting a shadow battle by issuing orders from some unknown hideouts while saboteurs are having field days in burning vehicles and peoples all over the country. Along the bordering areas, large caches of arms and ammunitions are being discovered routinely, although there is no evidence to suggest that any of such deadly weapons have been used so far in the ongoing conflict. More ominous is the fact that, investigations of what seems like random acts of criminality are either not conducted intentionally, or the law enforcers are stretched out, outnumbered and helpless. Amidst this state of domestic, regional and global desperation, Indian PM Narendra Modi had dispatched a private message to PM Sheikh Hasina on March 2 through the visiting Indian foreign secretary, S. Jaishankar. The authenticity of this news stems not only from some Indian media outlets, the fact that the foreign secretary of a neighbouring country has been allowed to overstep protocol- barriers to meet the PM is indicative of a secret conversation having taken place.
The coming days will manifest what message Delhi had for the embattled Bangladesh PM at a time when she has no one else on her side; not in the diplomatic world.
Source: Weekly Holiday
